Sewing-machine ruffler.



H. GRE-IST. SEWING MACHINE RUTFLBR.

APPLICATION FILED Man-8, .1913.

l 197,42 l o Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUBERT M. GREIST, 0F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE GREIST MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

SEVING-MACHINE RUFFLER.

To all 'whom t may cof/tecra Be it known that HUBERT M. Gruner, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented or discovered certain new and useful mprovements in Sewing-Machine Ruftlers, of which the following is a. specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to that class of sewing machine rufllers adapted to make a plait or gather at each stitch, or, if it be desired to make wider plaits, to form only a single plait while several stitches are being made.

Rufliers of this class have genrally been known commercially as five-stitch ruf- 'lers, in that they have heretofore usually been so constructed that when wider plaits are being made they make one gather or plait for each live stitches of the sewing machine; and the present invention has for its object to simplify the construction of the class of rufliers referred to, and at the saine time increase the range of variation of work which they may perform, so that when the wider plaits or gathers are to be made one plait or gather may be formed for any desired number of stitches of the sewing inachine, from five to ten stitches, more or less, according to the particular construction of ratchet wheel which may be in use.

The five-stitch rulflers heretofore in use have been provided with permanently mounted ratchet wheels each having` two deep notches and eight shallow notches, and adjusting means have been provided whereby,-

when live-stitch ruiiiing was to be performed, a spring-pressed pawl on the operating lever, would, at times, enter the deep notches and would then be in a position to engage a shoulder on the pendulous lever for the purpose of moving the rufling blade forward for a ruiiiing or gathering stroke, the ruilling blade remaining inactive when the pawl engages the ratchet wheel at the shallow notches.

In the Present improved ruiiicr the adjusting means referred to are done away with, thus simplifying the construction of the device, and removably-mounted interchangeable ratchet wheels of different constructions are provided so that by using a ratchet wheel having only shallow notches plain ruf Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 8, 1913.

Patented Aug. 1S, 1914.

serial no. 783,760.

fling, or rufl'ling in which a ruffle or gather' will be made at each stitch of the sewing .machine, will be done or when wider plaits or gathers are to be made a ratchet wheel having deep and shallow notches will be mounted in place. Thus by employing a ratchet wheel. having two deep notches and eight shallow notches one ruflie or plait will be made at each five stitches of the sewing machine; or `by employing a ratchet wheel having nine shallow notches and only one deep notch a rufde or plait will be made at cach ten stitches of the sewing machine. Thus by employing interchangeable ratchet wheels having different numbers of deep and shallow notches the range of variation of the work may be widely varied.

ln the accompanying drawings Figru'es 1 and 2 are opposite side views of a ruflier embodying the present invention. Fig. l is an end view of the improved ruiller. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on line 4 4, Fig. 2. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show different forms of interchangeable ratchet wheels,

Referring to the drawing, 12 denotes the body of the frame of the ruffler which is preferably provided with an integral attaching portion or shank 13 by which it may be secured to the presser-bar of the sewing machine in substitution of an ordinary7 presser-foot. The forked operating lever 14, which is adapted to engage a pin or roller-stud on the needleebar of the sewing machine, is pivotally mounted on a stud or pin 15 riveted or otherwise permanently attached to an upright portion of the frame 12. Also pivotally mounted on the said stud or pin 15 is a pendulous or secondary lever 16 to the lower end of which the ruliiing blade carrier 17 is jointed, the said lever 1G being provided at its top with a shoulder 18 adapted to be engaged by a spring-pressed pawl 19 on the operating lever 14, said lever 16 being provided with an arm 2O to be engaged by a screw 21 also carried by said operating lever 14.

The pin or stud 15 extends through the upright portion of the frame 12 far enough to afford a tenon which will serve as a bearing for the removably-mounted ratchet wheel 22 which is retained in place on the tenen portion of said pin or stud by means of a combined latch and friction spring 23 pivoted to the frame 12, outside of the pe riphery of the said ratchet wheel, by means of the rivet 24, said combined latch and friction spring being provided with a hole to receive said tenon portion of said pinror stud, and with a finger piece 26 for convenient operation of the said combined latch and friction spring. Thus when the said latch or friction spring is in the operative position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 of the drawing it will retain the ratchet wheel on the pin or stud 15, and will bear against the said ratchet wheel with suflicient friction to prevent backward movements thereof under any dragging influence of the spring- `n'essed pawl 19: but when the said combined latch and friction spring 23 is moved to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the ratchet wheel will be free to be removed so that it may be replaced by an interchangeable ratchet wheel having different peripheral notches. A stop pin 27 on the frame 12 limits the .movement of the latch spring part 23 when the latter is moved to the dotted line position, Fig. 2.

The ratchet wheel shown in Fig. 2 is provided with two deep notches 28 and eight shallow notches 29, and is thus adapted for five-stitch ruflling in that when the pawl 19 is in the shallow notches it will be held out of engagement with the shoulder 18 of the pendulous lever 16; but when the said pawl 1f) falls into one of the deep notches 28 it will be in a position to engage the said shoulder on said lever and thus cause the rutliing blade 330 to make a forward stroke as the operating lever 14- rises; and when the operating lever descends the screw 21 on said lever will engage the arm 20 on the said pendulous lever 16 and thereby move the rattling blade and vits carrier backward to the position shown in Fig. 1. lf now it be desired to form plain ruftling, in which a rul'lle or gather will be formed at each stitch of the sewing machine, a ratchet y wheel such as is shown in Fig. 5 and having only deep notches 28, may be substituted for the ratchet wheel. shown in Fig. 2; and if it be desired Vto form ten-stitch rufl'ling, or to make a gather or plait at each ten stitches of the sewing machine, a ratchet wheel such as is shown in. Fig. 6, and having only a single deep notch 2S may be employed; or by using a ratchet wheel such as is shown in Fig. 7, and having three deep notches 2S, and nine shallow notches 29, a rulile or gather may be formed at each four stitches of the sewing ina-chine.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the character of the ruiliing which may be performed by the improved ru'lller may be varied widely by using interchangeableA ratchet wheels o-f different constructions. lThe throw of the ruflling blade in making any kind of rnfiling can of course be varied, as is usual in this class of rufliers, by the adjustment of the contact screw 21 on the opcrating lever 1li, so that there will be more or less loss motion between the said operating lever and the pendulous lever 16.

Having thus described my invention l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. ln a sewing machine rutller, the combination with a rutliing blade and means, comprising a spring-pressed pawl and pendulous lever, for operating said rufl'ling blade from the needle-bar ofV a sewing machine, of a removably mounted ratchet wheel for controlling the action of said pawl on said lever; whereby interchangeable ratchet wheels having different peripheral notches may be readily placed in operativeposition for varying the character of the work, and a combined latch and friction spring pivoted to thc ruifler frame outside of said ratchet-wheel so that itvmay be swung aside when a. ratchet wheel is to be mounted in place or removed and by which interchangeable ratchet wheels vmay be removably retained in operative position and are held against backward movements by said pawl. v2. ln a sewing machine ru'lfler, the combination with the frame thereof, of an operating lever provided with a spring-pressed pawl, a secondary or pendulous lever yhaving a shoulder to be engaged by saidpawl, a rui'lling blade operatively connected with said pendulous lever, a pin or stud fixed t0 said frame and on which said levers are pivoted, said pin or stud having a tenon or shoulder projecting through said frame, a ratchet wheel removably mounted on said tenon or shoulder, and a combined pivoted latch and friction spring for retaining said ratchet wheel in place.

In testimony whereof l aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.`

HUBERT M. GREIST. lVitnesses P lt. Gnnrs'r, W. C. Gnnrs'r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, '.D. C. 

